Will it be more impressive than the Oculus Rift?

Tonight at GDC during a press conference, Sony announced a new virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 called Project Morpheus.

Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuehi Yoshida revealed the device at a presser called “Driving the Future of Innovation At Sony.” Sony has now joined previously announced and still in development virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift , in the new struggle to create modern VR that actually works properly.

“Virtual reality is the next innovation from PlayStation that will [shape] the future of games,” said Yoshida during the press conference.

While the Oculus Rift still hasn’t been released, developers have had their hands on it for some time now and the device’s reception has been overwhelmingly positive (unless you’re this guy). Most of the games supporting the Oculus Rift are just tech demos right now and widespread developer support for the VR headset doesn’t exist, at least not yet.

Project Morpheus was demonstrated with a first-person demo of God of War and older hardware prototype demos dating as far back as 2010. PlayStation engineers apparently experimented with multiple prototypes and some included the use of Sony’s PlayStation Move motion-based accessory.

This March 8, 2012 file photo shows attendees walking past the Sony PlayStation PS Vita console on display in the Sony PlayStation booth at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Sony’s dedicated PS4 headset has the potential to be successful if the company is developing first-part exclusive games designed specifically for the device (and I assume they are). Edge also says its sources state Sony’s VR headset is ‘far superior’ to the initial prototype of Oculus Rift and comparable to the newer Crystal Cove.’ The Dualshock 4’s tracking ability via the PlayStation Camera could also be a big advantage for Sony in the virtual reality space.

The device’s official technical specifications are as follows:

1080p display with 90-degree field of view

15mm eye relief

1000hz display

Full 360-degree movement

Supports forward prediction

“We believe Morpheus will further enhance the world of PlayStation 4, with seamless integration with PlayStation Camera and PlayStation Move. We will continue to improve on this prototype by gathering feedback from developers. That’s why we unveiled it at GDC,” said Yoshida at Sony’s GDC press conference.

Low latency, high framerates, clean visuals, 3D audio are among the qualities that create effective VR with devices like Project Morpheus

Richard Marks, the senior director of research and development at Sony, also explained that Sony has non-game related ideas for Project Morpheus as well. The company has apparently been working with NASA and its Jet Propulsion Lab on an experimental project.

Project Morpheus will is available for testing on the GDC show floor and so far its reception has been resoundingly positive. The big question surrounding Project Morpheus is whether or not it performs better than the already impressive Oculus Rift? Also, with two impressive headsets hitting the market, will developers bother to support both platforms with VR-enabled games?

Content is king for VR and Project Morpheus. "We want to make PlayStation the best place for VR" – not just playing, but developing